1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to guitar bridges and tailpieces and more particularly to rigidly mounted guitar bridges and tailpieces that become fixedly mounted to the body of a guitar.
2. Description of Related Art
Steel string guitars generally have four separate structures in the string system. These four structures must be carefully installed and aligned for the strings to accurately reproduce the desired notes upon being plucked or strummed.
Referring to FIG. 1, a tailpiece 100 is mounted on a body of a guitar and holds one end of strings 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, and 112. The tailpiece 100 provides the mechanical strength for the tension of the stretched strings against the body of the guitar. These strings 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, and 112 then pass over a bridge 120 which is used to initially set the tuning of the guitar so the guitar plays in tune with the proper tone and timbre. In an electric guitar, the strings 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, and 112 will also pass over one or more magnetic or other types of pickups 130. The pickups 130 are used to convert the physical vibrations of the strings 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, and 112 into electrical energy which can then be electrically amplified.
The strings 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, and 112 then extend over, but do not contact, multiple frets, not shown, on the guitar. Towards a neck of the guitar the strings 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, and 112 then pass over a nut to tuning pegs. The tuning pegs are adjustable to increase or decrease the tension of the strings 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, and 112 in relation to each other. This raises or lowers the frequency of the tone of each string so that the proper notes are heard upon plucking or strumming the guitar. Between the nut and the bridge 120 are the various frets between which the strings 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, and 112 are depressed so that the effective length of the string is shortened to thereby increase the frequency at which that particular string vibrates.
An important factor in a quality electric guitar is the guitar sound. The material of the body, the quality of the magnetic or other pickups, the rigidity of the guitar itself, the accuracy of the placement and spacing of the strings 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, and 112 above the fingerboard and associated frets, the actual placement of the frets, and the quality of the tuning bridge 120 are all important to the overall sound of the guitar.
The strings 102, 104, 106,108, 110, and 112 are stretched initially between the bridge 120 and the nut just to tune the strings 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, and 112 to their proper respective note. Then the strings 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, and 112 are stressed further by a guitar player, upon playing, by forcing the strings 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, and 112 down onto the fingerboard between frets. Because of the energy with which some players play their guitars, the strings 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, and 112 stretch and often have to be replaced daily or even while playing. This requires that the strings 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, and 112 be removed from the tuning pegs, the body of the guitar, and the tailpiece 100, respectively.
Since the bridge 120, and possibly the tailpiece 100, are only held down by the tension of the strings 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, and 112, the replacement of the strings 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, and 112 requires that the entire guitar be completely retuned every time a string or strings are replaced. This requires a very fine ear by the guitar tuner. Alternatively, s/he must utilize separate tuning equipment to reset the guitar bridge 120 and the tuning ramps (known as xe2x80x9csaddlesxe2x80x9d) on the bridge 120. In fact, when the guitar strings 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, and 112 are removed, the bridge 120 becomes freely removable. If the tuning person is not careful, the bridge 120 and other components may fall off the guitar and possible mar the guitar body. Further, without a complete retuning and adjustment of the guitar, the guitar will not play well, stay in tune, or resonate well. A complete readjustment of all the components of the guitar is typically required after every loosening and/or removal of strings for simple operations such as cleaning and simple maintenance, taking much time and effort to return it to a playable condition. Therefore, there is a need for an improved system and method for securing a bridge and tailpiece to the guitar.
The present invention provides an improved system and method for securing a bridge and tailpiece to a guitar. The system includes a bridge having a long, narrow base piece with top, bottom, front, and rear surfaces. There is a vertical alignment hole at each end of the base piece formed from the top surface through the bottom surface. The bridge also includes a setscrew hole in each end of the base piece which is formed from an outer vertical edge through the base piece to each vertical alignment hole. The guitar bridge also provides for a setscrew to be inserted into each of the setscrew holes, the setscrews being rotated into the base piece and into contact with adjustment posts placed into the vertical alignment holes to fixedly mount the guitar bridge to the adjustment posts.
The present invention also includes a tailpiece having a long, narrow base piece with top, bottom, front, and rear surfaces. The base piece includes string holes in the base piece formed from the front surface through the rear surface. A vertical alignment hole or slot is provided at each end of the base piece formed from the top surface through the bottom surface. A setscrew hole is also provided in each end of the base piece extending from the outer vertical edges through the base piece to each vertical hole or slot. The guitar tailpiece also provides for a setscrew inserted into each of the setscrew holes. The setscrews are rotated into the base piece and into contact with adjustment posts placed in the vertical hole or slot to fixedly mount the guitar bridge to the adjustment posts.
The invention includes a method of mounting a guitar bridge to a guitar comprising fastening adjustment posts to a body of the guitar, placing the guitar bridge on the adjustment posts such that the adjustment posts are inserted into vertical alignment holes at each end of a base piece, and fastening setscrews into the base piece so that the setscrews contact the adjustment posts to fixedly mount the guitar bridge to the guitar.
In an alternative embodiment of the tailpiece, the string holes include slots which extend from the string holes to the bottom surface. These slots allow guitar strings to be slipped out through the bottom surface rather than being completely withdrawn through the string holes.